AOL Rate Increase

Can you avoid an upcoming AOL rate increase?

Claim: You can avoid a recent AOL price increase for unlimited access subscriptions by calling and asking to be locked in at the old rate for one year.

Status:Sort of.

Example:[Collected on the Internet, 2001]

Hello,

You can call AOL at 1-888-265-8008 and ask them to lock in the $21.95 unlimited rate for one year. No strings, no Tricks, This is only for AOL members who have had their accounts for 1 year or longer.

I personally called AOL on 7-7-01 and they locked me in at the $21.95 rate for one year.

As most of you may know, AOL announced On May 22nd that there would be a Price increase of $1.95 per month to users of the unlimited service. The Monthly rate will go from $21.95 to $23.90 Per Month, unless you call and ask for a price freeze of $21.95

Just tell the person that answers your call, that you would like the $21.95 price freeze.

They will ask you to verify your billing, name, address and phone number. You may, get a Quality Service questionnaire in your email. It is just a survey to see how the operator handled your phone call. You do not have to reply or answer it.

Origins: AOL announced in May 2001 that beginning with the July billing cycle, the price charged their subscribers for unlimited access would increase from $21.95 per month to $23.90 per month.

Soon after the announcement the message quoted above began to circulate, claiming that you could lock your subscription in at the old rate for one year by calling AOL and requesting a “price freeze.”

Strange as it may sound, this method apparently works (for now, at least). I called AOL on 9 July and asked if it were true that I could lock in my unlimited access at the older, lower rate. The operator claimed that AOL had been running such a promotion “for people who were thinking of cancelling their account,” but that it had ended earlier that day. When I pressed the point (“It just happened to end earlier today? Really?”), she asked me leading questions about whether I was planning to cancel my account because of the rate increase. I answered affirmatively, and she began collecting the information mentioned above to process my one-year rate freeze.

I couldn’t actually complete the transaction because I don’t have an AOL account, but this stealth promotion appears to be legitimate. No telling how long it will last, however.